Well I am just saying, sad reality is that vast majority of people attracted to these trade events are powertraders. And their presence means more pirates etc.
It's just the nature of the game right now - the people logging any specific faction outside of Liberty for the story are few, and you want actual intensely large numbers to at least temporarily revive the region and give attention to it. Many factions I play now were because I got attracted to them through events and rewards, the connections you make in them.
What's wrong with attracting both the local players that would play anyways, but also pure action and profit seeking players for a couple days to a week? Events to me are the times when you get to meet people from all ends of the game you wouldn't meet otherwise as they converge in a single region for a short period of time, not just some flair for people that play the factions anyways - you don't really need plugin events for that in the first place.
